| A New Constitution for the United States of America |
 |
| A New Constitution for the United States of America |
|
ARTICLE I.
The People of each State retain their sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Constitution expressly delegated to the United States, nor forbidden by it to the States.
ARTICLE II.
Recognizing that the right of self-defense to preserve Life and Liberty must be paramount in any free society, neither the United States, nor any of them, shall make or enforce any law or regulation interfering with the right of each citizen to keep and bear arms of his choosing for defense of himself, his family, his neighbors or his property; excepting only those persons held in involuntary servitude as punishment of a crime for which they were duly convicted in an open court of law, during the period of their servitude.
ARTICLE III.
Neither the United States, nor any of them, shall make or enforce any law or regulation declaring any action to be a criminal offense, or subject to punishment, unless it involves the initiation of force or fraud against the life or property of another. In all cases, the claims of the person against whom the action was initiated shall always take precedence over the claims of any other, including the government.
ARTICLE IV.
Neither the United States, nor any of them, shall make any law establishing or maintaining any religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, to travel freely upon the public roads, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
ARTICLE V.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The United States, in Congress assembled, shall have the Power and responsibility to declare the punishments of any officer of the government, whether of the United States or any of them, who is found guilty in an open court of law of having violated this Article; and in all cases such persons shall be removed from office, and disqualified to ever again hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
ARTICLE VI.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; nor shall any person be subject for the same action to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use under any circumstances, without full compensation and the free consent of the owner.
ARTICLE VII.
In all criminal prosecutions, both the accused and the prosecution shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel of his choice for his defense. No person shall be found guilty of a crime unless convicted by at least two-thirds of the jury (or by a unanimous verdict of the jury, for capital offenses), the jurors finding that the law conformed with Article III of this Constitution, and that the person accused did, beyond reasonable doubt, commit the act accused. Any person found not guilty by a jury shall have the right to make claim against the prosecution for the costs of his defense upon the affirmation of a majority of the jurors.
ARTICLE VIII.
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed one hundred dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
ARTICLE IX.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed; nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted, excepting capital punishment for cases of murder or other grievous bodily harm.
ARTICLE X.
All persons born to either citizens of the United States or to persons lawfully residing within the United States, shall be considered Citizens of the United States, with all rights and immunities thereof being confirmed to them when they shall attain the age of Eighteen years.
The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all rights and immunities of citizens in the several States. Neither the United States, nor any of them, shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the rights or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor discriminate between them; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws; nor abridge or otherwise interfere with the right of citizens to vote, unless they are subject to involuntary servitude in consequence for conviction of a crime through the due process of law.
ARTICLE XI.
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States which shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the citizens of the several States.
No person shall be a Representative to Congress who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State and district in which he shall be chosen. No person shall be eligible to serve as a Representative to Congress for more than three consecutive terms in office.
Any Representative to Congress shall be subject to a special election upon a Petition of Recall made by one-fifth of the citizens in the district he represents, in a manner to be provided by the legislature of the State wherein he was elected.
There shall be five hundred Representatives to Congress, apportioned among the several States which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers, but each State shall have at least one Representative. The actual Enumeration shall be made within every term of ten years, in such manner as the Congress shall by law direct.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
The times, places and manner of holding elections for Representatives to the Congress shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
The Congress shall choose their Speaker and other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
The Congress shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members, and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as they may provide.
The Congress may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
The Congress shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may require secrecy, in the judgment of three-fifths of the members; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
Representatives to the Congress shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States, but no law varying the compensation for the services of the Representatives shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the citizens of the several States at the next election of Representatives. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
No Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time: and no person holding any office under the United States, shall be a member of the Congress during his continuance in office.
ARTICLE XII.
There shall be a Committee of the States, which shall be composed of the chief executive authority of each State. The Vice President of the United States shall preside over the Committee, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Committee of the States shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President.
The Committee of the States shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When either the President or Vice President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
The Committee of the States shall have the power to review the laws of the United States, and, with the concurrence of three-fifths of the members, to repeal those laws which they may find to be in violation of this Constitution; but they shall have no power to initiate legislation.
The Committee of the States shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall coincide with that of the Congress, but they may recess or adjourn separately.
The Committee of the States shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may require secrecy, in the judgment of three-fifths of the members; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
ARTICLE XIII.
The Congress of the United States shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, for revenue necessary to pay the debts, provide for the common defense, and carry on the government of the United States; but no duties or taxes on importations from foreign nations shall be laid to promote or foster any branch of industry, except to the extent that foreign nations may impose on goods exported from the United States; and all taxes, duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow money on the credit of the United States in time of war, but they shall not otherwise appropriate expenditures in any budget year greater than the total revenues collected in the previous budget year unless a national disaster is declared by a two-thirds vote of the members;
To protect free commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, defining fraud against the property or commerce of others, and providing for the punishment thereof;
To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures, but they shall not make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;
To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
To establish communication services, where not readily available to the citizens of the several States, and to provide the punishment for violating the privacy thereof;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and in the air, and offenses against the law of nations;
To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
To raise and support armed forces for the defense of the United States, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; and to make rules for the government and regulation of the armed forces, but no soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law;
To provide for calling forth the militia, being the citizens of the several States, to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District constituting the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;--And
To make such laws which shall be necessary for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
ARTICLE XIV.
Every bill proposed to the Congress for its consideration shall concern only one subject, and shall cite the appropriate section of this Constitution for its authority.
Every bill which shall have been passed by a majority of the Representatives to Congress, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to the Congress, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of the Congress shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the Committee of the States, by which it shall likewise be considered, and if approved by two thirds of the Committee, it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of a majority of the Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be passed again by two thirds of the Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
No bill establishing new taxes, or increasing the rates of existing taxes, shall become law unless passed by three-fifths of the Representatives to Congress, approved by the President, and ratified by three-fifths of the Electors of the several States voting at the next election for Representatives.
The President may approve any appropriation and disapprove any other appropriation in the same bill. In such case he shall, in signing the bill, designate the appropriations disapproved; and shall return a copy of such appropriations, with his objections, to the Congress; and the same proceedings shall then be had as in case of other bills disapproved by the President.
ARTICLE XV.
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended.
No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular Statement and account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.
No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.
ARTICLE XVI.
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office, together with the Vice President, during the term of four years, and be elected by a majority of the citizens of the several States, but he shall not be eligible to directly succeed himself.
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President or Vice President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, or, if he shall be ineligible, on the Speaker of the Congress. The Congress shall provide by law the method to be used for determining the inability of the President to discharge his duties, and how such disability shall be determined to have ended. The Congress shall likewise provide by law who shall serve as President if the Speaker of the Congress shall be ineligible.
The President and Vice President shall, at Stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before the President enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
ARTICLE XVII.
The President shall be commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Congress and the Committee of the States, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the members of both Houses concur, and provided further that no treaty shall be entered into which would require the United States to exercise powers not expressly delegated by this Constitution, or which would infringe upon the Rights and Immunities of Citizens of the United States.
He shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Congress, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the inferior courts, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Congress, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Congress or the Committee of the States; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.
The President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
ARTICLE XVIII.
The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in a Supreme Court of the United States, which shall be composed of a Chief Justice and eight associate Justices, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish..
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of Justice of the Supreme Court; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
The Justices of the Supreme Court shall be chosen by a majority of the Electors of the several States, and shall serve for a term of six years. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Justices of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year.
The Justices of the Supreme Court shall chose the Chief Justice from among their members, who shall preside over the sessions of the Court. They shall keep a journal of their proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may require secrecy, in the judgment of three-fifths of the members; and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall, at Stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
ARTICLE XIX.
The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority;--to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;--to all cases of aerospace, admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;--to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;--to controversies between two or more States;--between a State and citizens of another State;-- between citizens of different States;--between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.
In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
ARTICLE XX.
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
ARTICLE XXI.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
ARTICLE XXII.
No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection laws: and the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
ARTICLE XXIII.
Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
ARTICLE XXIV.
A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
ARTICLE XXV.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
ARTICLE XXVI.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.
ARTICLE XXVII.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of the Representatives shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress.
ARTICLE XXVIII.
All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Constitution of 1787.
ARTICLE XXIX.
The Representatives to Congress before mentioned, and the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support, obey and defend this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
Any person found guilty in an open court of law of having violated the above oath (or affirmation) shall be removed from office, and disqualified to ever again hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
ARTICLE XXX.
The ratification of the conventions of thirty five States shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.